A half-hour trip on Manchester’s metro perfectly illustrates the chasm between the game’s haves and have-notsEvery so often, the football world gets into a tizz about something fairly inconsequential. The game has gone, cry the doomsayers. Integrity has flown out of the window, moan the handwringers. Whether it be diving Premier League stars on obscene salaries, narcissistic referees who hog the limelight or cheating foreign coaches who spy on opponents, the nation’s phone-ins are instantly inundated with calls from outraged fans.

There was another moral panic on 17 August when the video assistant referee (VAR) ruled out a late winner for one of the world’s richest clubs. This was the second week in a row that Manchester City had been caught up in a VAR controversy. The desiccated technology, one critic wailed, was killing football. “It’s sparked criticism across Europe,” weeped a website. “Something in the soul of the game,” a broadsheet scribe wrote, gnashing his teeth, “is lost.” Former QPR coach Ian Holloway, somewhat predictably, blamed the EU.